Vancouver East

Vancouver East spans the eastern portion of the city, taking in some of the most economically diverse neighbourhoods in British Columbia. The riding stretches from the Downtown Eastside and Strathcona through Grandview–Woodland and Hastings–Sunrise to the Burnaby border, and includes portions of Mount Pleasant to the south. Its territory encompasses North America's largest Chinatown, the Pacific National Exhibition grounds at Hastings Park, and the eclectic Commercial Drive shopping corridor.

Candidates

Jenny Kwan (NDP) — The incumbent MP, first elected federally in 2015 after succeeding longtime NDP MP Libby Davies. Born in Hong Kong, Kwan immigrated to Canada at age nine and graduated from Simon Fraser University with a degree in criminology. In 1993, she became the youngest city councillor in Vancouver's history, then served as a BC NDP MLA for Vancouver–Mount Pleasant from 1996 to 2015, becoming British Columbia's first Chinese-Canadian cabinet minister.

Kyle Demes (Liberal) — A marine ecologist and research administrator at Simon Fraser University, Demes held a PhD in zoology from the University of British Columbia. His academic career focused on ecology and marine biology before he moved into institutional research administration at SFU.

Bridget Burns (Green Party) — A community volunteer who grew up in East Vancouver, Burns worked as a server and bartender while running her own small business in the neighbourhood. Her 2019 campaign earned the highest Green vote share of any riding in the city of Vancouver.

Chris Corsetti (Conservative) — A Vancouverite, Corsetti held a bachelor's degree from Simon Fraser University and a Juris Doctor from Bond University in Australia. He worked as a lawyer with the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada.

Karin Litzcke ran for the People's Party, Gölök Z Buday for the Libertarian Party, Peter Marcus for the Communist Party, and Anne Jamieson for the Marxist-Leninist Party.

About the Riding

The Downtown Eastside is the defining feature of Vancouver East's political landscape. One of the oldest urban neighbourhoods in the city, the DTES has long contended with extreme poverty, homelessness, addiction, and mental illness. The toxic drug supply crisis was claiming lives at an accelerating pace, and the neighbourhood's dense network of social services — shelters, safe consumption sites, community health centres, and food programs — operated under severe strain. Candidates across the political spectrum acknowledged the urgency, though they disagreed on approaches ranging from expanded harm reduction to pathways emphasizing recovery and treatment.

Beyond the DTES, Vancouver East is a working-class riding with deep immigrant roots. Chinatown's heritage buildings and cultural institutions anchor a community that was contending with gentrification pressures as new development encroached on the historic district. Grandview–Woodland, centred on Commercial Drive, had evolved from an Italian immigrant enclave into one of the city's most culturally diverse neighbourhoods, known for its independent shops and cafés. Hastings–Sunrise, home to the PNE fairgrounds, was an ethnically diverse residential area where rising housing costs were pushing out longtime families.

Nearly two-thirds of the riding's residents were renters, and with vacancy rates near zero, competition for affordable units was fierce. Average household incomes sat well below the Vancouver median, making housing affordability the single most common concern across every neighbourhood. The riding's economy rested on the Port of Vancouver facilities along Burrard Inlet, light manufacturing, the creative and technology sectors clustered around Mount Pleasant, and a thriving small-business community.